


Morning, Neighbour

by RetrobrandTerobrand



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotionally Repressed, Human Perry the Platypus (Phineas and Ferb), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Slow Burn, Strained Relationships, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22551520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetrobrandTerobrand/pseuds/RetrobrandTerobrand
Summary: Being good had never been easy.In fact, being good, in Heinz Doofenshmirtz's eyes, always seemed significantly annoying.But he supposed, very grudgingly, that it was worth it. For certain people, that is. Not for the holier than thou sentiments that irritated him relentlessly. So maybe the countless shifts from home to home, and the endless scrutiny from O.W.C.A, was worth it.What wasn't worth it, however, was moving into a house directly across from a nemesis you hadn't seen for a year.Or, an AU where Heinz Doofenshmirtz turns good, but it's much harder than anyone would have thought.
Relationships: Heinz Doofenshmirtz/Perry the Platypus
Comments: 30
Kudos: 155





	Morning, Neighbour

_“If we are to become parted someday, remember that I know exactly who you are, and I treasure you.” -Jessamine Kaldwin_

* * *

It was Vanessa who ended up enlightening him.

She didn’t seem to suffer from the same ‘blindness’ he did, and untied his brain from the confused knots he had worked it into with the utterance of a couple of words, eyebrows flicking up to her hairline as she followed his gaze towards the familiar teal haired man tossing sausages around on a barbecue.

“Isn’t that Perry?”

Heinz blinked. 

It had occurred to him as soon as he walked through the gate that there was something remarkably nostalgic about the sight of his neighbour, whose tense face reminded him of the likeable contempt his old nemesis used to carry around with him. 

But Perry? As in, Perry the Platypus? Agent P? The suave and utterly ‘no nonsense’ spy who he had seen fight off men twice his size and weight, whose suit was always immaculate- flat and clean like the mask of indifference he constantly wore. 

This man was wearing _sweats._ Not to mention the ruffled hair, or the pair of glasses that sat precariously on the bridge of his nose. And though he certainly had Perry the Platypus’s judicious apathy down pat, he didn’t quite have the look of vicious determination that plagued his memories. (Even if he was poking at the sausages quite hard).

His old nemesis wouldn’t have subjected himself to cooking dinner for half the neighbourhood, apron over his clothes as he poked at the food. He wouldn’t have occasionally paused to ruffle the hair of a vivacious red-headed boy who darted past, a quick ‘Hi, Uncle Perry!’ floating in the breeze behind him. Nor would he have flashed a small smile at a lanky, pinched face man who came up to clasp him on the shoulder good naturedly. 

“Perry the Platypus?” 

Heinz had meant to spit the words out in irritable disbelief, but instead they puffed out of his mouth in a ring of uncertainty, and anxiety began to gnaw at his stomach. 

She nodded, and shot him a pointed look from over the rim of her glass, “I’m about ninety percent sure that’s him, dad.”

He didn’t have the best memory, at least with faces, but surely Perry the Platypus wouldn’t have been _here._

His old nemesis was much more suited to be off fighting someone else, maybe in some exotic country; easing his way through the slanted corners of a city brushed with crime- or pulling off complicated martial arts moves that he vaguely remembered leaving dark imprints on his skin.

“No,” Heinz murmured, breath still lost to the stranger who he could admit, with vigorous annoyance, had the same appealing sharp jaw and keen eyes. He shook his head, as if he could jiggle the unwanted thoughts free, and stuck his long nose into the air, “He’s not even wearing his fedora.”

Vanessa‘s gaze went skyward, but it lacked any of her usual irritation. There was warmth crinkled in the very corners of her eyes, and it seeped into the gentle grasp she had on his shoulder.

“He’s probably off duty.” She nudged him, “You should go say hi.”

Heinz crossed his arms, mouth pursed petulantly as one of Vanessa’s friends, _another redhead,_ beckoned her over. “Fine, I’ll say hi to the teal haired stranger, _not_ Perry the platypus!”

* * *

**_One Week Earlier_ **

Heinz blew out a sharp breath.

Designing prosthetics had been significantly easier when he was younger. He hadn’t quite cared as much about the weight of pure titanium arms, though now, with so many children in need of a replacement limb, he wasn’t exactly inclined to give them debilitating back problems.

Toes and fingers, as well as jaws, were progressing a lot more smoothly. Even if his workshop looked a bit like the domain of a serial killer, with fake skin grafts and models of various body parts strewn throughout the area.

He also had a feeling Vanessa was nicking some hands and eyeballs for her own room. 

Which, to be fair, was an improvement to the state of the rest of the house. He glanced up, eyes hovering over the boxes that had yet to be unpacked, and the lingering emptiness that was hanging over the lounge room.

Without Vanessa, it was just him and the white walls that still smelled vaguely of paint. 

Loneliness had always been a presence prone to sinking deep into his gut, a sort of burning indifference that sat with him like the tearing feel of hunger.

It had only deepened after the last day of summer.

Even if he supposed, with a lot of grumbling, that being good brought him a lot more satisfaction. There was still a lot of drawbacks. His own struggles to fit into such a different way of living, feeling out of place and _wrong,_ and the hardest- how he now lacked the company of a man he had grudgingly laid a lot of his affection into. 

But the little girl who beamed at him while she pulled on one of his prosthetics- eyes glistening with the effectiveness of the nerve connectors, was a feeling that had drained just about every bit of disdain he had been building up about O.W.C.A and their response to his change of tides.

Vanessa was around more often, even on weekdays, and wouldn’t retreat back into her room for the majority of her stay. They watched movies together, and Heinz showed her, with an almost overflowing amount of glee, how to dismantle and put back together a computer. 

After that particular realisation, it became a lot easier putting up with O.W.C.A’s suspicion and weekly check-ins.

Though, he still actively disliked most of the agents they sent over.

They were either entirely boring, awful listeners, rude, or just plain arrogant. Sometimes all four, if he was really lucky. It was rather infuriating, watching the agents cast a judgemental gaze over him, over the various homes he had jumped to and from trying, and failing, to comfortably settle in. Like he wasn’t worth their time because of the inevitable.

If anything, _that_ made him want to try harder.

Heinz huffed, and let his pencil drop over the papers detailing his rough sketches, spread across the kitchen counter in a bundle of eraser shavings and coffee stains. He’d like to see any of them make a working, realistic prosthetic. Even if he was struggling with the bigger limbs.

He rapped his fingers across the mahogany, blue eyes lazily following each line of the femur bone, each broad stroke embellished in smudges from his hand. He vaguely wondered if he could engineer one, just for fun, to work at an exponential speed. But knowing him, it would probably end up backfiring if he tried, and he certainly didn’t want anyone flying off into the wind and getting injured because of him. O.W.C.A would have him detained on the spot. He could barely risk a traffic ticket, at this point. 

He had been less than impressed by the list of stipulations and threats they had rolled out upon his relinquishment, demanding signatures and sworn statements. He had the actual document around somewhere, shoved in a drawer with a fat frowny face painted into the ‘O’ of ‘O.W.C.A’. 

Heinz snorted. Served them right. He wondered how they expected more people to deflect to the ‘good side’ if they treated the ones that had like this. Though he supposed, with a bit of rippling anxiety, that they might have just preferred to rid of them completely rather than sanction them. 

They didn’t send Perry the Platypus after him anymore, even at the school when he was wreaking unintentional havoc. Now a new face and hat appeared each time, draining the smile he had been flashing at his students, replaced instead with an expression of bitter disappointment.

Along with the scheduled visits, he otherwise didn’t see much of O.W.C.A.

A notion he was thankful for. He was beginning to enjoy sitting and grading papers in silence, a cup of coffee by his side while Vanessa lounged on the couch, occasionally asking if he could just give her an A without the work.

“Nepotism doesn’t suit you, honey.”

She would grin, eyes glimmering in cheesy happiness. “It won’t be like the hogs, Dad.”

“It’s _always_ like the hogs, Vanessa.”

At least his relationship with her was only continuing to strengthen. But being good was still _tiring_ , and he wondered how Perry did it so rigorously and without falter. He knew O.W.C.A pushed him hard and denied him days off, so why the man was so dedicated was beyond him, sometimes. 

But if it was worth it to him, then it had to be worth something, he supposed, and huffed out a long breath, puffing the air through his lips in a dissatisfied raspberry. 

He checked his watch, noting that Vanessa should have been here about ten minutes ago, when the doorbell rang.

It rang three more times by the time he dragged himself from his chair, wincing with a frown, “Yes, yes! I’m coming.” Heinz shuffled over, and pulled open the door. His eyes crinkled pleasantly, but the shadow in the faint glow of the sunset towered over even himself. 

“Oh.”

It was one of O.W.C.A’s agents. A scheduled visit he had forgotten about.

The man, tall and pale, held out a small, white card, before pulling it back sharply. 

**‘ _Agent D: O.W.C.A’_ **

_“_ Yeah, I figured,” Heinz said flatly.

He would have been more polite, but the agent wasn’t exactly Perry the Platypus, as Heinz had grown to hope for once he realised O.W.C.A was merely sending any random agent that happened to be off duty to check on him.

Agent D peered past him, pulling out a little notepad as he stepped inside, only to squeeze his eyes shut and press a hand to his forehead

“Why is there a hand in your fruit bowl, Doofenshmirtz?”

Heinz blinked, and followed the agent’s gaze to the limb sitting amongst his bananas and apples.

“Oh, my daughter must have put that there.” He rolled his eyes, dismissing the agent’s horrified expression with a sharp wave. “It’s not real, dummkopf. Didn’t Monobrow tell you I’m in the prosthetic business now?”

Agent D straightened, face pinching in disdain, like it would force Heinz to offer a bit more respect. 

“Not my division.”

He went about the rest of his business with a rather pathetic attempt to exude unimpressed ire, sloppily rummaging through his stuff (and to his annoyance, not putting his belongings back in their original place), until he got to Vanessa’s room, and Heinz asked quite politely if he could refrain from violating his teenage daughter’s privacy. 

Agent D didn’t listen, of course, so Heinz watched irritability as he sniffed around, only snapping a warning when his pruned hands reached for the closet doors.

“Gott,” Heinz muttered as he shuffled back past him. 

“Everything looks fine, I suppose,” Agent D intoned boredly, acting as if he hadn’t just committed an act of aggravating unprofessionalism. He lifted his hat, an action reminiscent of Perry, though it felt largely apathetic. 

“Don’t go yet. You missed the dungeon, and my bag of dirty laundry.”

“Curb your attitude, Doofenshmirtz,” Agent D muttered, and waved a small piece of paper detailing the next scheduled visit under his nose.

Heinz plucked it between two bony fingers, hoping it wouldn’t be another Saturday- his soaps were on then, thank you very much- and gestured to the door.

“Just knock it down next time, why don’t you.”

“If I get assigned here again, I’ll personally ask for a transfer to a different country.”

That stung a little, even if it was coming from a complete stranger. A complete stranger who probably had access to his files- the ones that highlighted every last bit of information about his past and his present.

Heinz swallowed, shuffling on his feet while Agent D swung open the door, revealing Vanessa, hand raised and curled into a fist.

“Oh, hello.”

Agent D flashed his first smile of the day, charming and _irritating_ , moving aside to let Vanessa through first.

Heinz hummed distastefully, and scowled at the man. 

He wondered if O.W.C.A had some sort of system where he could give feedback about the agents. If they did, he would have _words._ He’d also use it to leave a little something for Perry the Platypus.

 _‘Why didn’t you keep in contact, Schwachkopf’_ sounded solid.

Maybe a bit desperate.

He shook the thought from his mind, and instead flashed half a grin at Vanessa, who looked as if she was itching to say something scathing to the agent and his retreating back.

Heinz wouldn’t have held it against her.

“Did he stay out of my room this time?” She asked, pulling out a pair of headphones from her ears.

“Nope. Sorry, Pumpkin.” 

“Figures. I even asked Carl to put in a word for me.”

She pushed a box aside with her foot, not looking as disgruntled about her room being searched as usual. He raised an eyebrow, watching her brush past him with a brief kiss to his cheek, humming under her breath as she made her way into the kitchen.

“I haven’t gone shopping yet, we’ll have to order in.” 

He had been ordering fast food for most nights now, too consumed by his work at home and teaching to ever bother to go out and go grocery shopping. The most he ever stopped to buy was more coffee, and new pens. 

Vanessa shook her head, only looking vaguely exasperated, and pulled out her phone.

“I’ll do it.”

“Thanks,” Heinz leaned on the door frame, watching her for a second- something he regretted not doing before, paying attention and _listening_ instead of filling up his life with his own words. “You’re in a good mood.”

Vanessa smirked, very briefly, before turning around to pluck his wallet from the counter. “One of my friends lives in this neighbourhood. I just ran into her.” 

Heinz titled his head, “Huh, small world. Is she a friend from school or O.W.C.A?”

“School. She’s pretty,” Vanessa paused, “Nice. Her brothers make the coolest stuff.”

Heinz straightened, eyes immediately brightening in interest. “Make?”

He wasn’t great at maintaining ‘friends’, or even initiating small talk (which he had read often leads to friendship) since his interests seemed to be ‘far fetched’ and his personality ‘intensely dislikable’, but maybe talking to neighbours could be a bit more tolerable if they shared the same desire to _create_.

Vanessa cast him a knowing look, “Yeah. I’m surprised you haven’t seen some of their stuff. They live across the street, diagonally.”

Heinz raised an eyebrow. How big were their creations if he could have been seeing them from _here?_

“What do they make? Don’t tell me it’s just toy trucks and paper aeroplanes.”

She shrugged, fingers tapping in a blur over the screen of her phone, “Everything. Candace told me about the time they built a roller coaster through Danville. And I think they did make a papier-mache aeroplane- a life size one, that is.” 

Heinz grinned at the prospect of a gigantic plane made out of _paper_ , of all things, and wondered just how weird it would be to randomly pop over and introduce himself. Inventing was always significantly more fun when other people were involved. It would also mean having someone to share his blueprints with.

“How old are they? And exactly when can I meet them,” He asked, only half-joking.

Vanessa finally glanced up, “I think they’re about ten.”

The smile dropped from his face for a second.

“Ten?”

Ten years old and building roller coasters? Working roller coasters, if Vanessa’s impressed tone was anything to go by. 

They’d have to be geniuses, and he briefly wondered what sort of family they come from if they were that young and already displaying engineering skills beyond their years. 

He blew out a breath, “Yeesh, that’s impressive.”

Vanessa hiked an eyebrow, and slipped her phone back into her pocket with a faint grin, “Weren’t you building stuff like that at their age, dad?”

He shrugged, “I mean, _inators._ ”

They had worked, and no other kid, or teenager for that matter, could come close to designing something so complex that functioned properly. But it wasn’t exactly a roller coaster. 

Though now he realised that many schools offered scholarships for that sort of talent, which meant he could have had the chance to study abroad much sooner.

He hummed, and shrugged, dismissing the lost experience with only a little disdain to instead pluck the hand from the fruit bowl.

Vanessa eyed it with amusement, and rolled her shoulders innocently, “Give yourself some credit. The food’s been ordered, by the way.”

Heinz waved the fake hand, murmuring a quick thanks as he pondered just how talented two kids would have to be to make a fully functioning roller coaster, before glancing over to his sketches again.

“Speaking of food,” Vanessa said slowly while she watched him, “Candace told me her family is hosting a barbecue next weekend.”

“That’s nice.”

She rolled her eyes, “That means we’re invited, dad.”

He glanced up, eyes widening slightly at the prospect of interacting with multiple strangers. He hadn’t so much as offered a friendly hello to any of his neighbours, and there was always the chance that he would embarrass himself horrifically. Or completely butcher any attempt at conversation. He was new, so it was easier to keep to himself and not tarnish his reputation. 

“Me?”

Vanessa nodded, looking vaguely amused, and tapped the calendar hanging by a thread from his kitchen wall.

“Don’t forget.”

Heinz groaned, but pencilled it in anyway, deciding that at least the child geniuses would be there, and he’d have someone he could talk to that didn’t want to just discuss taxes or the weather.

Even if they were thirty-seven years younger than he was.

* * *

**_The Present_ **

He should not have agreed to say ‘hi’.

As soon as he took a step forward in the direction of the man (that was definitely not Perry the Platypus, thank you very much), his foot completely faltered.

Vanessa turned back around to face him, only slightly occupied by the chattering of her ginger friend, and mouthed ‘ _go’,_ fingers pointing towards the ‘agent’ sharply.

Heinz grumbled, one foot still placed awkwardly in front of the other, and looked around for any viable form of distraction.

There was none.

Everyone else was suitably engaged in something awfully generic, chatting merrily or chasing some of the kids, who whooped in delight as they ducked under tables and jumped over chairs.

He spared a quick grin, because there was never this much merriment or joy in Drusselstein as a child, before settling his gaze on the figure near the barbecue again. 

Only to meet his dark gaze directly.

His brown eyes were narrowed slightly, and his biceps seemed to be all but rippling under the heat of the grill. 

Heinz took a step back, because the panic that flooded his chest squeezed his lungs to produce nothing but a panicked huff, and he tangled his foot with its twin in a display that his mother would have called foolish. He stumbled back, arms pinwheeling beside him until he fell quite spectacularly, back colliding with the ground in a heavy thud that sent tendrils of pain shooting down his spine.

He groaned, vaguely aware through scrunched eyes of the figure putting his tongs down and wiping his hands on his apron. The blurriness cleared as he blinked, and he swallowed the lump in his throat at the prospect of him coming over.

His first proper neighbourly event and he was already embarrassing himself.

_Great._

Heinz struggled into a sitting position, pinpricks of sharp aches still trailing over his skin, and wondered if playing dead would buy him some time.

He snorted. He was a dummkopf, through and through. 

“Are you alright?”

A bright voice was suddenly rattling through his ears in a cacophony, enough to give him the immediate throb of a mild headache, but the concern that painted the words made him look up in confusion.

A young boy- the red-headed one he had spotted darting around earlier- was crouched over him, eyes wide in worry. 

Heinz blinked, tongue caught on words that his mouth was trying to form faster than his brain, and stared blankly at the kid for a second.

“Sir?”

He scratched his head, before turning to look at something behind Heinz’s back.

“Ferb, check for a concussion.”

Something metallic and hard was pressed into the side of his skull, and he jerked forward, waving his hands frantically.

“No, no that’s okay! I’m alright, really. Sorry, I’m just, uh, a bit clumsy.”

It wasn’t even a lie, at this point. 

He was allowed to omit that the origins of that particular bout of clumsiness was due to a man, after all.

Another set of footsteps approached them, these ones much quieter and quicker than the heavy stomps of the rest of the guests, so Heinz steadily ignored looking in the direction of them as another boy, this one with _green hair,_ helped him to his feet.

He wasn’t very expressive, besides a reassuring pat to his arm that Heinz smiled weakly in response to, before he tried to slip back off in the direction of the table adorned with a plethora of finger foods.

But the other kid had jumped back in front of him, beaming widely as he pointed behind him. 

“There you are, Uncle Perry,” He followed Heinz’s step to the side obliviously, “I’m Phineas by the way, and that’s Ferb.” 

“Er-“

He scuttled past Heinz before he could finish, who was forced to finally turn, only to come face to face- or maybe face to chest- with the man that Vanessa had compared to his old nemesis.

Which was still completely ridiculous, even up close, where his dark skin and brown eyes were even more familiar. He swallowed dryly, gaze lost in the tangle of the other man’s (a _stranger still)_ own impassive stare.

 _His name was Perry_.

He sucked in a sharp breath, and promptly told himself that that didn’t mean _anything._

Even if his throat had gone dry, while his hands were becoming distinctly clammy.

He just had to act normal.

Heinz wiped them on his trousers, and stuck out a pale hand, “Nice to meet you.”

If his voice was a tad shaky, none of the three bothered to acknowledge it.

The stranger eyed him for a second, before wrapping his slightly calloused hand around his own pale one. His grip was rather firm, and Heinz wondered just what he was playing at as he jerked his hand back. 

The roughness reminded him of the scars on Perry the Platypus’s hands- the ones he used to notice during idle moments. When they were out for coffee, or sitting on his couch as they enjoyed a movie together.

Perry’s mouth twitched in the barest hints of amusement, the corner of his t-shirt scrunched into the hands of one of the boys, who was rocking on the balls of his feet with a smile.

“Uncle Perry, should I get the first aid kit?”

Heinz raised an eyebrow, only to realise the sting that had been burning at the palms of his hands was because of a particularly nasty graze.

It was beginning to ooze some blood, but it hardly warranted a first aid kid.

He waved a hand dismissively as Perry lifted his own ones up, and signed at him.

‘Are you alright?’

Heinz sucked in a breath, because while sign language wasn’t incredibly rare, he was only used to the movements coming from one person in particular. 

What he had been hoping for was a voice that he could immediately dismiss as belonging to Perry the Platypus, simply because he had never heard the man talk.

Phineas interpreted it as a lack of understanding, and jumped in to help.

“He asked if you’re okay.”

Heinz continued to stare at him, eyebrows furrowing down to his nose. 

He splayed out his fingers suspiciously.

_‘I’m fine.’_

The kid craned his head back to look up at them both excitedly. 

_“Neat_. He knows sign, Uncle Perry!” 

The man flashed a genuine smile down at him, and ruffled his hair, before pointing over to a gaggle of children huddled together (like they were planning something) near the fence.

He noted with some amusement that the girl Vanessa had been with was now watching them from behind the large tree, face contorted in a mask of stressed horror. 

“Oh yeah, Isabella is over there with the Fireside girls trying to come up with a way to earn her extreme sporting patch. I suggested designing another bio-dome to create highly sophisticated environments suited to what she wants to-“

The green-haired kid, _Ferb,_ rolled his eyes affectionately and grabbed his brother by the arm.

But Heinz was already captivated by the kid’s words, and realised with belated excitement that these must have been the boys Vanessa was talking about.

_A bio-dome big enough to house the enjoyment of extreme sports._

He rocked on his feet giddily, and stepped towards the kid, “A bio-dome. That’s genius, kid. Are we talkin’ simulations of _every_ variation of flora and fauna, or just one?”

Phineas paused, but didn’t quite look surprised at his interest, and beamed up at him, while Ferb halted in his attempt at tugging his brother away to gaze at him curiously.

“As many as we can think of! The coding is simple, but Ferb here can build just about anything, so it’s really no trouble creating variables that will give us the environment we need.”

Perry leaned forward, his hand waving a bit urgently, while narrow fingers pointed with emphasis towards the group of girls again.

The boys didn’t seem to see him, or even realise his anxiety, too busy glancing up at Heinz with cheerfulness and fascination that most people never bothered to look at him with.

Heinz was delighted. 

“That’s really something, kid.” 

Perry signed something quickly, movements so sharp that Heinz missed what he had said completely. It must have been enough to get through to the kids, because Ferb finally nodded, and pulled at his brother's arm.

Phineas waved a hand, “See you later, Mr-“ He paused, “I didn’t quite catch your name.”

“Oh, right. I’m Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz.”

“We’ll have to talk about inventions another time, Doctor D!”

Perry’s face went terrifyingly blank, and Heinz watched in a fair amount of disappointment as they ran off, Phineas motioning excitedly to Ferb, who listened attentively. 

He shuffled his feet through the dirt, and turned back to his neighbour, whose lips were pursed flatly.

Heinz suddenly felt incredibly exposed.

This man was definitely, in no way at all, his old nemesis, but he was still intimidating, even if he was quite short.

He had settled his gaze over Heinz’s face, like he was taking in a particularly interesting piece of art at a museum. But rarely did anyone look at him like he wasn’t anything but _weird,_ or funnily built. 

Attractive people always had a talent for making him behave like an inane idiot.

He jabbed a finger towards the direction he hoped Vanessa was in, and opened his mouth, “I’ll just-“

Perry shook his head.

‘ _Do you want to come inside to wash up?’_

For the third time tonight, Heinz found himself staring at his neighbour blankly.

Perry raised an eyebrow. He pointed to the bony hands that were still oozing blood between broken skin, a look of something akin to _affection_ besmirching his handsome face. 

“Oh. You mean- yeah. Er,” He glanced around, wishing he wasn’t so much of a schnitzel that he could just walk away, and save himself the embarrassment, but instead he just nodded, albeit lamely.

“Sure.”

The man turned to unlock the sliding door behind him, pulling it open smoothly, before standing aside, dark eyes pensive and glowing in the faint rays of the setting sun.

‘After you.’

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've really ever tried skipping with time back and forth. I was a bit worried. but I only do it in this chapter. The rest are written normally. Sorry if that bothered anyone.


End file.
